Independent actuator tens



4, 1951 H. GROSS ETAL 2,564,254

INDEPENDENT ACTUATOR TENS TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed 0012.14, 1947 Sheets-Sheet l l venfor;

Aug. 14, 1951 H. GROSS EIAL INDEPENDENT ACTUATOR TENS TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed 001:. 14, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1951 H. GROSS ETAL 2,564,254

' INDEPENDENT ACTUATOR TENS TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 14,1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 /n yen for;

Aug. 14, 1951 H. GROSS ETAL INDEPENDENT ACTUATOR TENS TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 14, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 14, 1951 INDEPENDENT ACTUATOR TENS TRANSFER DEVICE Henry Gross and Samuel Gross, London, England Original application October 14, 1947, Serial No.

779,776. Divided and this application December 22, 1949, Serial No. 134,446.

Britain October 25, 1946 This application is a divisional application from our application Serial No. 779,776, filed October 14, 1947' for Cash Registers and Like Machines.

This invention relates to cash registers and like machines, and is a divisional application from the parent application Serial No. 779,776, issued on May 30, 1950 as U. S. Patent No. 2,509,493, which relates to machines of the kind having a series of actuating keys to be depressed by the operator and hereinafter called operating keys which are operatively associated with toothed elements by means of cams (which we call key lever cams) whereby the toothed elements have differential movements according to the value represented by the keys, which movements are imparted to toothed wheels that form the driven elements of a pivotally mounted adding unit, and having a pivotally mounted cam element o-peratively associated with the keys and adapted to rock the adding unit to bring the toothed wheels into engagement with the toothed elements, and having means (which we call the holding means) which holds the unit in such position during actuation of the toothed elements. The keys may directly operate the toothed elements or may constitute trip devices to release means for actuating the toothed elements .as described in our United States patent application Serial No. 717,912.

The main objects of the invention are to simplify construction and to rendervarious parts of the machine more durable and more effective in operation.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, it will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a right hand side elevation of certain parts of a cash register made in accordance with the invention;

Figures 2 and 3 are left hand side elevations of certain parts shown in Figure l but on a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a view of the adding unit looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a right hand side elevation of the unit shown in Figure 4;

Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views on the line 6-6 of Figure 4 showing diiferent positions of the parts;

Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line 8--8 of Figure 4-; and

Figures 9, 10 and 11 show details to be described 5 Claims. (01. 235-138) In Great The cash register has a frame I!) (Figure l) which carries shafts ll, [2, l3, l4 and [5, disposed transversely of the machine.

Mounted on the shaft H are a series of key levers 20 the front ends of which carry the keys 2| which are marked with the usual symbols of pounds, shillings, pence, and half-pence, or other symbols for different currencies. The keys are depressed by the operator as required and are returned to the inoperative positions by springs 22. Each lever carries an upstanding cam plate 24 which constitutes the key lever cam and has an upper cam surface 25 shaped according to the digital value of the key, which surface ends in an arcuate slot 26 which is on the circumference of a circle having its centre on the axis of the shaft l I. The slots 26 in the respective cams are at different radial distances from the said axis and this is illustrated by way of example in Figure 9 which shows two levers 20 with their cams and slots. The cam surfaces 25 and slots 26 co-operate with four bars 28 of which only one is shown in Figure l. The bars are carried by levers 29, 30, mounted to rock on the shafts l3, I4. Attached to the levers respectively are the four toothed elements 3| (for pounds, shillings, pence, and half-pence) two of which are shown in Figure 1. These toothed elements can be engaged by the toothed wheels 34 of the adding unit which is shown generally at 36 in Figure I mounted on the shaft I5. As the keys 2| are depressed the cam surfaces move the bars 28 to rock the toothed elements the appropriate amount and before the levers 20 reach the limit of their operative movements the bars 28 are engaged in the slots 26 so that continued movement of the levers can impart no further movement to the toothed sectors and toothed wheels.

For rocking the adding unit about the shaft I5 to bring the wheels 34 into and out of engagement with. the toothed elements 3|, the adding unit is provided with a projection 38 (Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5) engageable by cam surfaces on a cam element or sector plate 39 fixed on the shaft I2 which is rocked on depression of a key by means of arms 40 that are fixed to the shaft l2 and are connected by a transverse bar 4| which is engageable by all of the key levers 20. On depression of a key 2| the lever 20 rock's about its pivot l l and its rear end moves up thereby engaging and raising the bar 4| and rocking the arms 49 about the axis of the shaft 12. This rocks the shaft 12 and consequently also rocks the plate 39.

The sector 39 is provided with an arcuate cam rib 42 (Figure 2) the upper and lower surfaces of which are formed on the circumferences of circles having their centres coincident with the axi of the shaft I2. This rib has a continuation 43 the underside of which rests on the projection 38 in the rest position. The front end surface of the rib 42 constitutes a cam surface 45. A pawl 46 pulled in one direction by a spring 43 has a cam surface 41 contiguous with the cam surface 45. As the sector commences its movement the cam surfaces 41, 45, move the projection 38 up thereby tilting the adding unit from the position shown in Figure 6 to the position shown in Figure '7 in which the toothed wheels 34 mesh with the toothed sector elements 31. During nearly all of the remainder of the forwardly rocking movement of the cam sector 39 the upper surface of the rib (which is the holding means) engages the projection whereby the unit is maintained in the adding position and during this time the toothed sectors impart motion to the toothed wheels 34. At the end of the forwardly rocking movement of the cam sector the rib moves beyond the projection whereupon the unit is returned by a spring 50, to its inoperative position. As the key returns to its up position the underneath of the rib rides over the projection thereby preventing any possible movement of the unit into its adding position. At the end of this movement the rib runs off the projection and the projection pushes the pawl 46 down until the pawl also runs off the projection whereupon the pawl is moved to its contiguous position by its spring 48 thereby preventing the rib from engaging over the projection at the commencement of the next operation. Thus it will be evident that during the last part of the downward movement of the keys 2! the arcuate rib rides off the projection 38 and leaves the adding unit free to be pulled out of engagement with the toothed sectors by its spring, whereby the toothed wheels are brought out of mesh with the toothed elements before the key levers are returned to their rest positions. Any jarring which may arise by bringing the levers to rest cannot therefore be transmitted to the toothed elements and adding unit.

The adding unit has a main spindle 52 (Figures 4 to 8) which carries indicator wheels 53 on the peripheries of which appropriate markings are provided, that is to say one wheel is marked for the /2d, the next wheel is marked for the pence, the third wheel is marked with shillings up to 9, the fourth wheel indicates l/-, and the fifth, sixth and seventh wheels are for the units, tens, and hundreds of pounds. Each of the first four wheels is attached to a positioning and transfer ratchet wheel 54 and to a toothed wheel 34.

For effecting transfer of d. totals to the penny wheel and so forth, there are provided three transfer levers 56 each of which carries a transfer pawl 51 and a trip pawl 58. These levers are mounted on a common pivot 66 and the trip pawl tails normally engage a common abutment bar 6| in such a manner, as shown in Figure 7) as to hold the transfer levers in such positions that when the levers are operated the transfer pawls will not have sufficient stroke to effect a transfermovement by engagement with the appropriate transfer ratchet wheels. Transfer pins 62 on the indicator wheels trip the pawls when transfer is required whereupon these pawls move below the abutment bar (as shown in Figure 6) and a Spring 64 pulls the transfer lever so as to bring the transfer pawl behind the next tooth of the appropriate ratchet wheel.

The transfer levers 5B carry rolls 6'! adapted to be actuated by three cam projections 69 formed respectively on three cam plates 58 fixed on the shaft l2. These cams come into operation as the key levers move back into their normal positions and whilst the adding unit is in its inoperative position. These transfer cams are staggered so as to operate the transfer levers in succession and the cams, after effecting the transfer movement, move past the rolls 6'! whereupon the transfer levers are brought by the springs 64 back to the normal positions with the trip pawl tails abutting the rear face of the abutment bar 6 I The usual star wheels 10 are provided that efiect transfer from the ten shilling wheel to the units pounds, units pounds to tens and tens to hundreds.

A spindle H carrying the star wheels is mounted on a carriage 13 (Figure 8) that is pivoted at 14 to the adding unit and held normally in engaging position by a spring 15. The carriage carries a leaf spring it that has a rib 11 which engages the star Wheels to position them in alignment. The spindle H has an extension on one end that engages normally in a recess 12 of a cam disc fixed to the spindle 52. A knurled disc 8| is also fixed to the spindle 52 and by rotating this disc the cam plate pushes the shaft H to disengage the star wheels. Further rotation of the disc enables pawls carried by the toothed wheels 34 to engage in a groove .82 in the shaft 52 whereby the wheels are rotated to zero position. One such pawl is shown in Figure 10 engaged in the groove 82. During this further rotation an annular peripheral surface on the disc 80 holds the star wheels disengaged. The pounds indicator wheels carry pins 83 (Figure 8) engaged by depressions in leaf springs 84 for zero positioning, or if desired these springs may engage the teeth of the indicator wheels.

Provision is made for ensuring that during actuation of any key, the spindle H is positively locked within the recess 12 of the cam disc 80 to hold the star wheels in their operative positions, but is released when all the key levers are in their rest positions so as to enable it to be withdrawn from said cam recess during zeroising. For this purpose the bar 4| has secured thereto an arm (Figure 11) which, in the rest position of the key levers, engages the lower end 9! of a bell crank lever 92 pivoted at 93 on the adding unit and thus holds the other end 94 of the said lever out of the path of movement of the spindle H as shown in chain lines in the figure. In this position of the parts the star wheel spindle is movable against the action of the spring 15 to permit resetting. However, upon actuation of any key the arm 95 is rocked in a clockwise direction, enabling a spring 95 to move lever 92 to the full line position, in which its upper end 54 engages the spindle and prevents it from being withdrawn from the recess 12 in the disc 80. Thus the star wheels are automatically locked against disengagement upon actuation of a key and remain locked until the key returns to its rest position.

At the completion of the zeroising the pins 62 trip the pawls 58 so that their tails would disengage from the rear face of the abutment bar Bi and the levers 56 would therefore be moved by the springs 64 to such a position as to be operated by the came 68 on the next actuation of a key and thereby effect a transfer if provision were not made to prevent this. For this P lP$ t e r nsfer. cams. 68 have arcuate abutment ledges 86 which act as stops which are contacted by the rolls 6'! so that the trip pawls 58 are positioned with their tails spaced slightly rearwardly from the abutment bar 6|. In this position of the transfer levers the pawls 58 are free to be tripped by the pins 62 during zeroising, whereafter they will be returned to their normal untripped positions by springs 58a and will reengage with the abutment bar 6! as illustrated in Figure '7 when the rolls 5'! are caused to disengage from the transfer cam stop ledges 85 upon the next actuation of a key.

A stop 8! is engaged by projections 88 on the transfer levers to limit their movements when the pawls 58 are in the tripped position.

It will be observed that two of the toothed elements 3! are pivotally mounted on the shaft 13 which is disposed transversely of the machine and the other two are mounted on the shaft 14 which is parallel to the shaft 13. The toothed elements are made of such sizes that they can mesh with the four toothed wheels 34 although the latter are of equal diameter and are mounted to rotate on a common axis.

We claim:

1. In a cash register or like machine having a series of operating members, cam elements positioned to be rocked upon movement of said operating members, and cam projections movable with the cam elements, a rockably mounted adding unit comprising a series of indi ator wheels, toothed wheels, transfer ratchet wheels, transfer trip pins one of which is carried by each indicator wheel, two spindles, one of which (the main spindle) carries the toothed wheels, to each of which is fixed one of said transfer ratchet wheels, and one of said indicator wheels and associated transfer trip pins, transfer levers mounted on the other of said spindles and actuated by the said cam projections to effect transfer movements on the return movements of the cam elements, said transfer levers being moved out of the path of said projections by the rocking of the adding unit during the operative movements of the toothed wheels, two pawls pivotally mounted on each transfer lever, one of which is a trip pawl which is tripped by the transfer trip pin of one indicator wheel to permit the transfer lever to move to its transfer position, and the other is a transfer pawl for actuating the ratchet wheel carried by the neXt toothed wheel, a common abutment bar which is normally engaged by the trip pawls so as to hold the transfer levers in such positions that when the levers are operated the transfer pawls will not have sufficient stroke to effect a transfer movement by engagement with the appropriate transfer ratchet wheels, and springs positioned to pull the transfer levers so as to bring a transfer pawl behind the next tooth of one of the said transfer ratchet wheels when said transfer pins trip said trip pawls.

2. In a cash register or like machine the combination as claimed in claim 1 having roll contact elements provided on the said transfer levers, which roll contact elements are contacted by the said cam projections for effecting movements of the transfer levers, abutment ledges carried by said cam elements, and springs attached to the trip pawls, said abutment ledges acting as stops contacted by the roll contact elements to position the trip pawls free of the abutment bar so that said pawls are free to be tripped by the trip pins during zeroising of the indicator wheels, and after zeroising to be re-.

turned by said springs to their nonnal untripped positions.

3. A cash register or like machine comprising a series of operating members, a rockably mounted adding unit, a series of indicator wheels, and toothed wheels on said indicator wheels, carried by said adding unit, a shaft, cam means carried by said shaft which cam means is rocked by the rocking of the said shaft by the operating members for moving the said adding unit into an engaging position, means actuated by the said operating members for moving the indicator wheels in the engaging position of the adding unit, cam element fixed on said shaft soas to be rocked together with the said cam means, and cam projections movable with the cam means, wherein the adding unit comprises the said series of indicator wheels and the toothed wheels on said indicator wheels, transfer ratchet wheels, transfer trip pins carried by said indicator wheels, two spindles, one of which (the main spindle) carries the toothed wheels, to each of which is fixed one of said transfer ratchet wheels and one of said indicator wheels and associated transfer trip pin, transfer levers mounted on the other of said spindles which are actuated by the said cam projections to effect transfer movements on the return movements of the cam means as the adding unit moves out of the engaging position, said transfer levers being moved out of the path of said projections by the rocking of the adding unit into the engaging position during the operative movements of the toothed wheels, and two pawls pivotally mounted on each transfer lever, one of which is a trip pawl which is tripped by the transfer trip pin on one indicator wheel to permit the transfer lever to move to its transfer position, and the other is a transfer pawl for actuating the ratchet wheel carried by the next toothed wheel.

4. A cash register or like machine as claimed in claim 3 having an abutment with which the said trip pawls normally engage whereby the transfer levers are held in their normal nontransferring positions with the transfer pawls insufficiently retracted to operatively engage the next ratchet tooth and springs connected to said transfer levers whereby when a trip pawl is tripped, its movement enables the transfer lever to be pulled by its spring so as to bring the transfer pawl into operative position behind the next tooth in readiness for the transfer operation.

5. A cash register or like machine as claimed in claim 3 having means for resetting the indicator wheels to zero, and extensions on the said cam projections which are engaged by the transfer levers to prevent these levers from being moved to their transfer positions during resetting.

HENRY GROSS. SAMUEL GROSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,134,174 Werner Apr. 6, 1915 1,910,571 Stuber May 23, 1933 2,008,355 Hellgren July 16, 1935 2,010,300 Green Aug. 6, 1935 2,130,723 Kottmann Sept. 20, 1938 

